Kathmandu, May 2: Nepali Congress leader Gagan Kumar Thapa has objected to the government’s bulldozer-driven approach to addressing the squatter issue.
Expressing his views on social media, Thapa argued that instead of displaying state power by demolishing people’s homes, the government should pursue a fair solution through legal processes.
Raising the question, “Bulldozers on the streets or the rule of law?”, he said the squatter problem is the result of decades of structural inequality. “No one becomes a squatter by choice. Our flawed development model has pushed people into cities,” he said. “Why do Dalits and marginalized communities always end up at the forefront when we talk about squatters? This is not just about poverty, but the outcome of historical discrimination by the state.”
Referring to Article 40 of the Constitution of Nepal, which guarantees land and housing rights to landless Dalits, Thapa said legal pathways for resolving the issue already exist through the seventh and eighth amendments to land-related laws. “There is a clear policy framework to identify genuine victims and rehabilitate them, but the state has wasted years failing to implement it,” he added.
Thapa stated that those who exploit public land under the guise of being squatters are offenders and should face legal action. However, he argued that forcibly evicting genuine squatters without identification or alternatives is a mockery of democracy.
He outlined key demands:
- Clear riverbanks, but through legal procedures rather than bulldozers
- Identify genuine landless people and resettle them in a managed way
- Publicize details of those holding land beyond legal limits and use such land for resettlement
Despite the current government enjoying a strong majority, Thapa expressed concern that it has chosen bulldozers over due process. “These bulldozers have not only destroyed homes but also people’s dignity and trust in the state,” he said. “The strength of the state should be seen in the fair enforcement of law, not in the teeth of a bulldozer.”
People’s News Monitoring Service
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